Greater Sooty Owl

The sooty owl or greater sooty owl (Tyto tenebricosa) is a medium to large owl found in south-eastern Australia, Montane rainforests of New Guinea and have been seen on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait. The lesser sooty owl (T. multipunctata), is sometimes considered to be conspecific with this species, in which case they are then together referred to as sooty owls. It is substantially smaller and occurs in the wet tropics region of North Queensland, Australia. == Description == Greater sooty owls have a finely white spotted head with scattered white spots on the wings. The females are lighter colored than the males. They appear to be the heaviest of the living species in the barn owl family, however the Tasmanian subspecies of the Australian masked owl is larger still. The females' length is 41 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) and weighs 750 to 1,200 g (1.65 to 2.65 lb). The smaller male has a length of 37 to 43 cm (15 to 17 in) and weighs 500 to 700 g (1.1 to 1.5 lb). The wing length is 30–40 cm. The large dark eyes are set in a round large facial disk. The facial disk is…